Note: The story grew way too long from what I had initially expected. I kept on rewriting it. In the end, I decided to post this version which I am most satisfied with. If not, I will never be able to finish the story. T.T .Will do my best to finish this up soon.

❆

“Hyung, you’ll do your best, right?”

Mino is taken aback by that question. Taehyun rarely calls him hyung because he felt that it was more intimate to call him Mino.

“Of course I will. What are you talking about? “

Taehyun closes the gap between them and slowly puts his arms around Mino’s neck. He closes his eyes as he felt Taehyun’s lips lightly pressed against his.

“I’m just a little worried. You know yourself how bad you are with directions sometimes, especially without me by your side,” replied Taehyun as his eyebrows drooped.

Mino uses his slim, long fingers to lightly caress those endearing eyebrows.  It’s one of the things that he can’t help but love about Taehyun.

“You’re the one who wanted to have this game, remember?  Don’t worry, alright? I’ll catch up with you soon,” Mino said with a big smile on his face.

And Mino kissed him again. Deeper this time.

❆

A beep from Mino’s phone caught his attention. He was sitting on the sofa, with his shoes on. He was all ready to get the game started. Taehyun had left earlier to get the game started.              

It was a message from his lover.

“Open the topmost drawer of the closet in the room. There’s a note detailing about the game in there.”

Mino quickly opened the drawer and found a blue envelope. He opened it and read the note inside.

Dear Mino,

Welcome to Taehyun’s Treasure Hunt!

For today’s game, you will have to solve 3 clues.  These clues will lead you to a series of locations where ultimately, you will find the world’s most priceless treasure, which is ME ^.^

Do your best Mino-ssi !

You have time until the end of today. I'll be waiting for you.

Love,

Taehyun

Mino can’t stop grinning at Taehyun’s little message as he flipped the note over to find his first clue of the day.

-The bathrobe and the yakuzas-

Too easy. Mino smirked as he quickly walked out from the hotel to head to his first location of the day.

❆

Mino let out a sigh of relief when he saw the pub from afar. He had lost precious time when he had gone on the opposite direction in the subway. Determined to make up the time wasted, he quickly walked up the pavement towards to the pub. The familiar pavement stirred up his memories as he recalled the events that had happened at the same place a few years back.

They had travelled together to Tokyo once when they were still in the best friends mode. On their first night here in this metropolitan city, Mino had received a SOS message from Taehyun saying that he was now surrounded by a bunch of yakuzas in a nearby after unintentionally annoying them. Needless to say, Mino rushed over to find him, fully preparing himself for a face off, only to find a surprised Taehyun laughing at him.

“Look at you. Bathrobe and sandals? Can’t you change first before coming out of the room?”

Taehyun was laughing so hard that he was clutching at his stomach. Mino had just finished his bath when he had read Taehyun’s message. In the moment of haste, he had left the room wearing only a bathrobe and also a pair of sandals. Even his hair was still dripping wet.

Mino snapped back at him, “This is not funny at all. I thought you were in danger. What if something bad happened to you?”

Taehyun couldn’t help but smile. Despite all the flaws in Mino, this caring side of him would always melt Taehyun away.

“Well, I was planning to surprise you with a late supper. But l didn’t expect you turn up in a bathrobe. Seriously!”

“Come on. Let’s go back. I kinda left in a rush and I think I forgot to close the door to our room.”

After paying the bill, they started their walk back to the hotel.  They were walking side by side on the pavement, shoulders bumping into each other occasionally.

“Taehyun, why the prank?”

“You’ve been looking rather tense lately. I think you need some fun in your life. And I was really serious about treating you supper just now. “

“Well, I was going through some hard times recently….“

Mino bit his tongue before he could accidently blurt out things that he had kept locked inside of him.

“Our first overseas trip together and you decided that a prank is the best way to start our first night here. Funny. Taehyun-ah, I was so worried.”

“Oh come on Mino, I thought you liked jokes. You practically have to crack a joke every now and then. “

“I..well, this wasn’t funny to me. “

“Anyway, Hyung, thank you for coming for me”, said Taehyun as he looked over at the man walking beside him. Mino had put on his serious look, with a few drops of water dripping off the edge of his hair.

Damn, how can you looked crazily y even in a bathrobe?

“Yeah, apology accepted. And why do you keep staring at me? I am still mad over just now if you are curious to know.”

“No, I wasn’t staring at you, you idiot. Anyway, you passed my friendship test with flying colors. You’ve proven that you deserve to be my best friend in this whole wide world. Well done, Mino!”

Best friend. Those two words stopped Mino in his tracks.

Taehyun didn’t realize that and continued walking ahead.

“It’s not enough.”

“What?” asked Taehyun as he turned around to look at Mino.

There was a long pause before Mino finally opened up.

It’s now or never, Song Mino

“You said I was being tense lately. Well, here’s the reason why. Being just your best friend is not enough for me anymore. I want something more.  I’ve been keeping it in all this time but I’ve decided that I need to let you know. When I saw your message, my heart stopped. You have no idea all the crazy things going through my mind while I was rushing over here. And when I saw that you were safe, I was so relieved. It made me realized that I need to do this before everything is too late.

“Hyung..”

“No, let me finish if not I’ll never be able to. Listen up, Taehyun-ah, I love you. Perhaps more than you can ever imagine. I want to hold your hands, to hug you anytime I want to. It’s scary how much you dominate my mind. I am not expecting anything in return honestly. I just need to get this off my chest because it’s seriously driving me crazy”

The words just flowed out of Mino like spit fire and then it was silent. Mino didn't know know what to do but he couldn’t handle the awkwardness anymore.

“Look, I think I might have left something at the pub. You should go back to the hotel.  It’s getting cold now.”

Mino sighed heavily as he turned around to head back to the pub. He couldn’t believe that he had just confessed. It was a spur-of-the moment decision and he was filled with mixed emotions. 

Relief - because he had poured out all the pent up emotions and feelings that he had been keeping in.

Worried - because he had no idea how Taehyun would take it. And he didn’t know how to face him now.

All he could think about now was that he needed to get away from Taehyun, anywhere will do as long as he can avoid him.

What a way to lose a friend. And to get your heart broken, thought Mino.

“Hey, Song Mino ssi. How could you just walk away like nothing happened after that embarrassing speech?”

Mino was startled. Taehyun was suddenly standing in front of him with the biggest grin on his face.

 “Why don’t you ask about my opinion first before you go drowning yourself in alcohol? Well, here's my answer”

Taehyun’s right hand grasped Mino’s left hand and he interlaced their fingers together.

“And by the way, you said it yourself that it’s getting cold. Let’s go back to our room where it’s warm and cozy.”

Their eyes met and Mino’s heart was about to burst from the all the emotions flooding out from inside of him

“We have a lot of things to talk about.” said Taehyun with a wink , as he smiled and led their way back to the hotel.

Mino had kept his eyes at their interlocking hands all the time during their way back ; he couldn’t help but to think of how their fingers fit each other so perfectly.

Of how warm Taehyun’s hand was.

And of how he vowed to never let go of that hand.

❆

At the pub, Mino manages to find another blue envelope after asking the waitresses who were working there. He quickly opened it and read the card inside.

Dear Mino,

I can still remember that night so vividly. That bathrobe! I still laugh out loud whenever I recall that. But most of all, I remember that walk back to the hotel. The way you looked so vulnerable when you confessed. Whenever, I feel beaten down, I just need to recall that moment to give me strength. To remind myself how much you love me to be the first one to confess even though it must have been very hard for you. That is the reason why I have not given up on you. And I hope you won’t too.

There’s two more and the clock is ticking.

Flip over this card for your second puzzle.

Hurry up and find me.

PS: You still looked super-hot even in that ugly bathrobe :P

Love,

Taehyun

Mino turned over the second note. It read:-

-Look to the sky to find the place we missed-

❆

Mino is puzzled. He has finally figured out the answer to the second clue but he doesn’t remember them ever being there.

By looking at the first clue, Mino had thought that the next clue will also be based on places that they had been to in the past. 

But, he clearly remembers that they had not visited this particular place before. They weren’t able to fit that into their schedule so they had skipped it in the end.

While riding up the elevator, Mino pondered on the possible reasons that would have led Taehyun to bring him here to Tokyo Tower.  He is a bit worried that maybe he has made a mistake and this is not the place that the younger man is referring to.

He stepped out of the elevator, greeted by the sight of the beautiful city view of Tokyo, dwarfed by a barely visible Mount Fuji.

He doesn’t waste much time admiring the view.

Remembering his main purpose of coming here, Mino starts looking around the place for a blue envelope. It isn’t easy since the place is packed full of people. It is only after asking one of the staff who is manning the Information Counter that he finally manages to find it.

Dear Mino,

Welcome to Tokyo Tower. Isn’t the view incredible?   I’ve always wanted to come here. And today I was finally able to do so, but somehow, it doesn’t feel right. Like something is missing.  Maybe because there is no you by my side.

You must be wondering why I brought you here.

I’ve shown you our past, and now I am showing you a glimpse of our future together. 

There are so many other places that I want to go to, unforgettable experiences that I want to collect and food that I want to taste.

I want to do all of it with you. Not with anyone else, but with you.

This is the future that I am offering to you. A future of us together, be it through ups or downs.

I know that life hasn’t been smooth sailing for you lately. But I just want to remind you that no matter what happens, you have me. I will be your constant amidst the unknowns. Just like how you have always being my anchor.

Okay, I am going stop being cheesy so that you can start on your final stop of today.

Guess what comes after Past and Future? 

Your next stop is Present.

Love,

Taehyun

Mino read Taehyun's note over and over again, treasuring each words that he had written down, before finally turning the note over to find the third clue.

-You and I are lost in this Tokyo maze. Man’s best friend will guide you back to me -

❆

 Taehyun is worried. Very worried.

Sitting down in a sushi bar, Taehyun was just informed by the kind staff at Tokyo Tower that Mino had successfully found the clue. Peeking at his watch, Taehyun starts to fret. It’s now less than 2 hours to midnight.

Will he even be able to find me there? Are my clues that hard? Why did I even suggest a game? You know how bad Mino is with games.

But he knew he needed to do this. Or something like this. The idea came to him during their flight to Tokyo. He knows that Mino loves him but he also knows how easily affected Mino is by other people’s judgements. Mino has always been a worrier, the more careful half in the relationship. Taehyun wanted to give him reasons why he shouldn’t be affected. And this game was supposed to do that.

Shaking his head at himself, Taehyun sent Mino a message, violating his own promise to not help his hyung at all.

To: Mino

Hey, do you need hints?

From:Mino

No, I’ll win you back on my own.

Mino’s reply came back instantly. Taehyun chuckled as he finishes up his sushi. Perhaps he should have more confidence in his Hyung more.

❆